Joe's TV List Furrows Its Brow

#34: Twin Peaks
(ABC, 1990-1991)

So, I told all my college pals, there’s this new show coming out that is going to change the face of television, and you have to watch it. At first, many did. After a few episodes, not so many. Oh, I tried to explain that what they were seeing actually made some sense, that we have to trust David Lynch, he’s brilliant, and the repeated motifs of doughnuts and owls and logs and dancing dwarfs are all very meaningful, and you just have to keep watching. And then the season ended, and we didn’t know who killed Laura Palmer, but it didn’t matter, because it was all so deep and artistic and atmospheric. I even bought the soundtrack and the Julee Cruise album to tide myself over. And then the second season began, and the murderer was revealed, but maybe not, because there was this malevolent spirit, Bob, who possessed Laura’s dad and eventually possessed Agent Cooper after kidnapping his girlfriend and taking her to the Black Lodge, which may or may not have been just a place in Cooper’s head, and my face wrinkled into a contemplative stare as I knew, just knew, that it all had to mean something, ’cause this was David Lynch, dammit, and he was going to change television. But the rest of America had already changed … the channel. Damn fine effort anyway, Mr. Lynch. Thanks for screwing with us.